
Mark Rasmussen
International Director
This auction has ended. View lot details






Sold for US$56,250 inc. premium
Our Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialist
International Director
In the Nyingma Tradition, the Guhyagarbha Tantra (8th to 10th century) is considered the most important of all Tantras. It describes two basic mandala configurations - one of forty-two peaceful deities and another of fifty-eight wrathful deities - combined they are the One Hundred Peaceful & Wrathful Deities. There is a clear organization and a structured hierarchy in the Tantra and two mandalas. There is also a clear relationship between the deities of the Guhyagarbha Tantra and the various Tibetan Buddhist traditions of the Bardo Todal (Tibetan Book of the Dead).
The forty-two peaceful and fifty-eight wrathful deities are the basis for the iconography depicting Bardo. The 'Terton' Karma Lingpa, in the 14th century, is credited with the discovery of the 'treasure text' known as the Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo, a text intended to be read to the deceased with the wish to enhance a rebirth.
Compare with an example in the Newark Musuem in Rhie and Thurman, Wisdom and Compassion, New York, 1997, p. 198, no. 60. Also compare with a thangka of Draglha Gonpo in the Rubin Museum of Art, see Linrothe and Watt, Demonic and Divine, New York, 2004, p. 107, no. 3.
1. Mahottara Heruka 2. Ratna Heruka
3. Padma Heruka 4. Vajra Heruka
5. Buddha Heruka 6. Karma Heruka
A. Karmapa B. Sharmarpa C. Situpa
Published:
HAR #41008 - http://www.himalayanart.org/image.cfm/41008.html